dressage

For the last fifteen years, I’ve used “clicker training” on almost every animal that I’ve had any interaction with – dogs, chickens, fish, goats, children and even a husband. It’s a generous and effective perspective. You think through what you want, break that down to the smallest doable bit, mark […]

You Get What You Click

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The stuff that a horse wears so that a rider can securely sit on his back is called tack. Putting it on is called tacking up. I enjoy a style of riding called dressage, and for that and the frequent trail riding that I do, Tonka wears a saddle and bridle […]

Rewards, Not Threats

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working trot
I’m a writer. I believe that the words that I choose to use – and not use – matter. As someone who has had her manuscripts marked up with red ink by editors, I know that the words that I have in my head, when put down on paper, aren’t always as clear as I intended. […]

Words Matter

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This whip holder is at the entrance to the indoor arena where I board Tonka. There’s nothing unusual in this. In my sport of dressage, a rider carries a whip.   We’re taught that if the horse ignores the leg aids (a squeeze, perhaps a jab or a kick) that the next […]

Cue, Threat or Punishment?

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Not quite two years ago, when I went looking for a horse to buy, I didn’t think that I’d do much more than easy trail rides. I have various physical issues, and was happy to be able to sit on a horse at all. I wanted a horse with a kind […]

Something New

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Tonka and I have been busy. The sport that I do with him is dressage. You might have seen photographs of large and fancy horses trotting in place with their noses pointed to the ground. That’s dressage, but that’s not what I do. At dressage’s foundation is the belief that slow […]

Balance With Your Horse

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